Garment hanger



P. L. LEVY GARMENT HANGER Aug. 22, 1961 Filed Feb. 3, 1959 INVENTOR. p575? A [El Y Arroas EYS 2,997,217 GARMENT HANGER Peter L. Levy, 2166 29th Ave, San Francisco, Calif. Filed Feb. 3, 1959, Ser. No. 790,840 Claims. (Cl. 223-92) This invention relates to a garment hanger and more particularly to a hanger which is vertically adjustable.

One of the main objects of this invention is the provision of a garment hanger adapted to be suspended in a conventional manner from a rod in a clothes closet or the like and which may be manipulated by a child between a lowered position within the childs reach and a raised position out of the childs reach.

In most cases fixed supports such as clothes bars or hooks from which garments are adapted to be hung are built to adult requirements for convenience and for the purpose of suspending relatively long garments such as coats and dresses so that they will not touch the floor. Although children may be taught at a relatively early age to hang their own garments the conventional fixed support for commonly used hangers is generally out of their normal reach. The child must, therefore, climb on some object such as a chair or step stool to hang his garments on the conventional clothes rod, which practice has its inherent dangers, or a special, lowered rod or the like must be provided for the childs use.

Since the childhood is a transitory stage, whatever special means are provided for the childs use are only temporary and later become useless and interfere with the hanging of clothes in the normal manner. Furthermore, any device which is adapted to be manipulated by a child must be relatively simple in operation and of such foolproof construction as to be practically indestructible.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a vertically adjustable garment hanger which may be simply and inexpensively manufactured and which is easily manipulated by an average, relatively young child.

Still another object of this invention is the provision of a garment hanger having a generally horizontally extending garment support bar which may be easily raised and lowered by means of a flexible cord with respect to a hook member adapted to be suspended from a fixed sup: port and which bar is held in raised position by means releasable in response to a predetermined pull on the cord.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG I is a front elevational View of one form of the garment hanger of this invention;

FIG. 2 is an end elevational view of the device of FIG. 1, showing the garment support bar in the raised position;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 showing the garment support bar descending from the raised position;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2 of a first modified form of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of a portion of the modified form of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a second modified form of a portion of the garment hanger of this invention; and,

FIG. 7 is an elevational view, similar to FIG. 2, of the modified form of FIG. 6.

Referring to FIG. 1, the device of this invention comprises a generally horizontally extending garment support bar 33 which is adapted to support a coat or similar garment by being inserted in the shoulders thereof. A hanger member, or hook member, 11, adapted to be suspended from a fixed support, such as a horizontally extending rod 6, is provided for supporting bar 33, in a manner to be described. It will be noted that a conven tional garment or coat hanger is usually formed from a bar similar to bar 33 having a hook portion, generally similar to the upper portion of member 11, secured thereto for hanging a garment from a rod 6.

In the device of this invention hook member 11 and bar 33 are intended to function in a manner similar to that of the conventional garment hanger but are provided with means connecting the bar to the hook member providing for vertical adjustment between them.

In the preferred form of this invention hook member 1-1 is provided at its lower end with an eye 13 and bar 33 is provided with a vertically disposed aperture 31 through its central portion. A flexible cord 15 respectively cooperating with aperture 31 and eye 13 serves to suspend bar 33 from hanger member 11.

Cord 15 includes a bight 1, passing through eye 13, and a pair of runs 2, 3 hanging therefrom and terminating in lower ends 4, 5 respectively. In this manner cord 15 is suspended by bight 1 from member 11 for opposed vertical movement of runs 2, 3.

In the preferred form of the invention, said runs slidabl-y extend through aperture 31 and one of said runs, 2, is provided with a projection or enlargement, in the form of knot 23, at a point spaced upwardly from its lower end 4 and engaging the underside of bar 33 at aperture 31. Knot 23 is too large to pass through aperture 31 and therefore provides, in effect, means for connecting run 2 to bar 33, whereby pulling downwardly on run 3 of cord 15 will raise run 2 with respect to eye 13 and thereby raise bar 33 (FIG. 2). Similarly, pulling downwardly on run 2 will lower bar 33 therewith and raise :run 3 through aperture 31 (FIG. 3).

Preferably, a knot 25 or other enlargement or projection is provided on run 3 intermediate its end 5 and bight 1, which knot is engageable with the underside of bar 33 adjacent aperture 31 when bar 33 reaches the desired lowered position. Knobs or balls 27, 29 may be mounted on the lower ends, 4, 5, respectively, of the cord runs to aid in grasping said runs for pulling the same as described.

It will be seen that the structure thus far described I enables raising and lowering of bar 33 from a raised position adjacent eye 13 of hook member 11 (FIG; 2) to a lowered position spaced downwardly therefrom. With member 11 suspended from a clothes rod 6 at the conventional height, cord 15 will be suspended therefrom so that the lower ends 4, 5 of its runs will be within the grasp of a small child. By pulling downwardly on run 3 the child may raise run 2 and thereby garment support bar 33 to a raised position adjacent hook member 11, which position is generally similar to the position of a conventional hook and bar coat hanger. By pulling downwardly on run 2 the child will cause bar 33 to move downwardly to a lowered position in which the stop means provided by knot 25 on upwardly moving run 3 engages the underside of bar "33 thereby limiting its further downward movement. In this lowered position it is intended that garment support bar 33 will be easily reached by a small child for the placing of garments thereon.

Only a relatively short amount of run 3 below knot 25 need be provided sufficient for grasping by the fingers, since it will always be within reach of the child whether garment support bar 33 is in the lowered or raised position. The extent of run 2 extending below knot 23 must be sufficient to reach from bar 33 in the raised position to where it may be grasped by a child. Preferably, cord 15 is sufiicien-tly freely slidable with respect to eye 13 and aperture 31 so that bar 33 will fall of its own weight from the raised to the lowered position.

In order to retain garment support bar 33 in the upper or raised position, friction means, generally designated 7, are incorporated in the device of this invention; 'In

one form, means 7 may comprise a flexible resilient tab or element 19 (FIGS. 1-3) secured to run 2 at a point spaced above bar 33 and projecting laterally of cord 15. Element 19 may be formed from rubber or like flexible material apertured to receive run 2 therethrough and with knots or enlargements 17, 21 on opposite sides of said element for holding it on place on said run.

The lateral extent of element 19 in at least one direction is greater than the extent of the opening through eye 13 through which cord 15 extends. In this manner, element 19 may be pulled through eye 113 only by defleeting the former which requires a predetermined force applied to cord 15.

In raising garment support bar 33 by pulling downwardly on run 3, element 19 will reach eye 13 just before bar 33 reaches the raised position. Application of the predetermined amount of force to run 3 is required to deflect element 19 so that it may be pulled through eye 13 from the left-hand side of said eye to the righthand side of said eye as viewed in FIG. 2. When in this latter position, it will be seen that element 19 resists passage through eye 13 and thereby retains bar 33 in the raised position. The force required to be applied to run 2 to pull element 19 back through eye 13 in order to lower bar 33 is preferably slightly more than the weight of bar 33 combined with the heaviest garment which may be supported thereon. Hence, run 2 must be pulled with suflicient force to deflect element 19 through eye 13 in order to release bar 33 for movement to the lowered position (FIG. 3).

Various kinds of friction means or deflectable means may be employed for restraining the passage of run 2 through eye 13 for releasably holding bar 33 in the raised position. One of such means is illustrated in FIGS. 4, 5 in combination with garment support bar 33 and a hook member 35 having an eye 37, similar to member 11 and eye 13. In the modification of the FIGS. 4, 5, a flexible, diaphragm-like element 45 is supported in eye 37 and is provided with a central opening 47 (FIG. 5) therethrough. Opening 37 may be just slightly larger than the cord 39, which is similar to cord 15, so that said cord will freely pass therethrough.

Not only is cord 39 provided with a projection or enlargement 43 in a similar position and for a similar function to knot 23, but a further enlargement 41 (FIG. 4) is provided on said cord at a point spaced above bar 33. Enlargement 41 projects radially of cord 39 to an extent greater than the extent of opening 37, whereby it is necessary to apply a predetermined amount of force to cord 39 in order to deflect element 45 sufficiently to pass enlargement 41 through opening 47.

In efiect, element 45 restricts the open portion of eye 37 so that it is smaller than the enlargement 41. A predetermined pull is thereby required on one of the runs of cord 39 in order to disengage enlargement 41 from element 45 to prevent movement of garment support bar 33 to the powered position.

A similar function is performed by the modification of the FIGS. 6, 7 in which a hook member 8 having an eye 9 and a garment support bar 33 are connected by a cord 12 in a manner similar to that described with respect to FIG. 1. Cord 12 is provided with a projection or enlargement 14 similar to knot 23 and for a similar purpose.

A flexible, resilient looped element 10, of rubber or like material, is secured to hook member 8 to extend over a portion of eye -9 leaving only a remaining portion thereof open to the passage of cord 12. An enlargement 16 on cord 12 above bar 33 projects from said cord to a greater extent than said remaining open portion of eye 9. Similarly therefore, a. predetermined force must be applied to cord 12 to pull enlargement or knot 16 past the deflected element 10. The cooperation of enlargement 16 and the flexible element thereby performs the function of releasably holding bar 33 in the raised position adjacent hook member 8.

It will be obvious that enlargements such as 14 and 43 securely clamped to their respective cords are the equivalents of knots such as 23 in cord 15. Furthermore, the device of this invention will function nearly as well with only one of the runs 2 of cord 15 extending through aperture 31 or with means other than knot 23 and aperture 31 employed to secure run 2 to bar 33. It will be understood that various other modifications and equivalents that would occur to one skilled in the art are intended to be within the spirit and scope of the following claims:

I claim:

1. A garment hanger comprising: an elongated, generally horizontally extending garment support bar, a hanger member adapted to be suspended from a fixed support, a flexible cord having a bight and a pair of runs extending therefrom, means suspending said cord by said bight from said member for opposed movement of said runs, means connecting one of said runs to said bar generally centrally thereof, and interengaging friction means on said member and carried by said bar for holding said bar in an upper position adjacent said member, said friction means being disengageable in response to a predetermined pull on said one run for permitting lowering of said bar to a lower position spaced from said member.

2. A garment hanger comprising: an elongated, generally horizontally extending garment support bar, a hanger member adapted to be suspended from a fixed support, a flexible cord having a bight and a pair of runs extending therefrom, means suspending said cord by said bight from said member for opposed movement of said runs, means connecting one of said runs to said bar generally centrally thereof, interengaging friction means on said member and carried by said bar for holding said bar in an upper position adjacent said member, said friction means being disengageable in response to a predetermined pull on said one run for permitting lowering of said bar to a lower position spaced from said member, and stop means on the other of said runs engageable with said bar when the latter is in said lower position for suspending said bar from said other run in said lower position.

3. An adjustable height gar-ment hanger, comprising: a garment support bar, a hook member adapted to be hung on a fixed support and having an eye therein, a flexible cord passing through said eye and having a pair of runs hanging therefrom, means connecting one of said runs to said bar for raising and lowering with respect to said eye by respectively pulling on the other of said runs and said one run, and cooperating means on said one run adjacent said bar and on said eye restraining the passage of said one run through said eye for holding said bar in a raised position adjacent said eye and deflectable in response to a predetermined pull on one of said runs to permit said passage.

4. In combination with a generally horizontally extending garment support bar having a central, vertically disposed aperture therethrough and a hook member adapted to be hung on a fixed support and having an eye therein, means adjustably suspending said bar from said member, comprising: a flexible cord running through said eye and having a pair of downwardly hanging runs slidably extending through said aperture and terminating in lower ends, a first projection on one of said runs spaced upwardly from said lower end and engaging the underside of said bar at said aperture for raising said bar with said one run in response to downwardly directed movement of the other of said runs, a flexible element secured to said one run at a point spaced above above said bar and projecting from said cord to an extent greater than the extent of said eye requiring a predetermined force to pull said element through said eye whereby said element releasably retains said one run with said bar in a raised position, and a second projection on said other run engageable by said underside of said bar in a lowered position for limiting downward movement of said bar.

5. In combination with a generally horizontally extending garment support bar having a central, vertically disposed aperture therethrough and a hook member adapted to be hung on a fixed support and having an eye therein,

tion thereof open, a third projection on said one run at a point spaced above said bar and projecting from said cord to an extent greater than the extent of said remaining portion of said eye requiring a predetermined force to pull said third projection through said remaining portion past said element whereby said element releasably retains said one run with said bar in a raised position, and a second projection on said other run engageable by said underside of said bar in a lowered position for limiting downward movement of said bar.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 596,176 Naylor Dec. 28, 1897 1,450,176 Hopkins Apr. 3, 192-3 1,949,701 Vara Mar. 6, 1934 2,645,357 Taylor et a1. July 14. 1953 

